As is known in the art, commercial fishing vessels extract fish and other catch from the ocean. The fish is processed in a series of steps that lead to sale and consumption by end users. Generally, consumers cook the fish in some way prior to eating. However, conventional processing methods result in suboptimal cooking characteristics and/or waste.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the processed fish fillet 10 is uneven from dorsal to belly. More particularly, a loin portion 12 is significantly thicker than a belly portion 14 of the fillet. When such a fillet is cooked, such as by frying, microwaving, grilling, etc., the fillet 10 is cooked to different consistencies across the fillet. More particularly, while the loin portion 12 may be cooked to a desired condition, the belly portion 14 may be overcooked. In addition, a V-cut 16 in the fillet exacerbates the uneven cooking characteristics. Users may not eat the overcooked portion due to undesirable texture and/or taste. If the belly portion 14 is cooked to taste, the loin portion 12 may be undercooked. To mitigate these uneven cooking characteristics, the fillet can be processed to remove a portion of the loin portion. While this may address cooking unevenness, this leads to lower yield and waste.